Roses in a Mist
by foreverstartsrightnow
Summary: After being left behind in the Enchanted Forest, things take an unexpected turn as Hook and Aurora search for the cure to bring Philip back. Season 2 AU. One-shot.


**Pairing:** Hook/Aurora

**Rating:** M (not super porny sex but it's still sex)

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing related to Once Upon a Time.

**A/N: **I got a prompt on tumblr a few months ago for "Sleeping Hook lost in purple mist." It's probably one of the most interesting prompts I've gotten and was kind of a challenge to write. So hopefully it will deliver at least a little. Also this was supposed to be a drabble but like most things, it got out of control really fast. Thanks to snarkysweetness for putting up with me while I was trying to flesh this thing out.

* * *

"Hook!" Her voice rang out like a shot, reflecting through the dense trees and bouncing back at him from every direction. With the resolve not to answer, he kept moving, cursing the woman under his breath as he trudged quickly through the forest, reaching out to use the trees as a guide.

"_Hook! Oh-_" Her petite frame slammed against his back and she reeled, nearly crashing to the ground. His good arm shot out instinctively to pull her roughly back to her feet.

"I thought I told you not to follow me," he snarled and released her, returning to his path and called out over his shoulder, "You really ought to follow my advice once in a while."

She sputtered, no doubt a side effect of the purple mist filling her lungs and permeating her skin. After a light rustle of her the overtly frilly dress (she'd refused to change out of the thing since being in his charge, something Killian cursed her for under his breath daily), the sound of her feet padding behind him indicated she'd refused to listen. Again. "And I thought I told you I would do no such thing."

Killian rolled his eyes. "Has anyone ever told you how dreadfully annoying you are, Princess?"

"I am _not_ annoying, I'm persistent."

He smirked to himself. Though he would never say it aloud, he had to admit he found it impressive that she'd managed to find him despite the lack of visibility. "You're annoying."

"No, I—" she sputtered again and took a deep audible gasp of air. "What _is_ this?"

"I told you. It's a magical fog meant to impede trespassers during daytime while the witch sleeps."

"But what does it _do_?"

"Begins simple enough; scratchy throat, itchy eyes. Soon your lungs will start to burn, disorientation follows, and then the hallucinations start."

"Hallucinations?" Her voice was small and frightened. Killian rolled his eyes again. "Why don't we come back at night?"

"I told you not to follow me."

"But—but what about you? It doesn't seem to have any effect on you at all."

"Because, love, I've spent years working up an immunity."

"An immunity? But how? Didn't you tell me this was the only witch in the realm capable of this kind of magic?"

"Ah! So she does listen…"

"I'm being serious!"

"So am I," he snapped and spun on his heels so fast Aurora had barely a chance to pause before barreling into him again. She let out a noise of alarm as he gripped her shoulder tightly, her frightened breath sickeningly sweet on his face. "Now since you refuse to follow my orders, might I kindly suggest you keep your pretty little mouth shut long enough for me to concentrate on remembering the way. That is, if you want us to make it out of here before we both lose our minds."

Not another noise escaped her as they moved onward, save for the occasional cough or sniffle and the back of her hand wiping the tears leaking from her eyes. He knew the fog would really be getting to her now, and hurried along with the hopes they could find what they'd come for and leave just as soon.

"Hook…" she uttered at last and gripped the leather of his sleeve sending his senses flaring unexpectedly.

"It's just a short way, now, Princess…" he assured as the sting of magic began to pierce his eyes, and cursed internally. If he didn't have her slowing him the hell down, he'd be on his way back with a satchel full of the damned enchanted roses and then he could be sending her back to her prince.

A sharp tug on the edge of his coat brought him back into reality and his foot slipped, causing him to tumble headlong down a sharp incline, bringing Aurora along with him. Landing with a heavy _thunk _on the forest floor, Killian raised his head slightly before letting it fall again to the ground and clenched his eyes shut. His brain thudded heavily within his skull, the pain made worse by the magic coursing its way through his body. It wasn't until he heard Aurora's muffled whimpers that he'd fully realized what had happened.

He reached out, grasping at the earth to find her, knowing she couldn't have landed far. Sickeningly sticky warmth greeted his fingers as they made contact with the gauzy material of her shawl and the sharp metallic scent pierced his nostrils. "_Gods_." As the implication registered in his mind, he scrambled to his knees and hovered over her. His eyes strained to confirm the fear now blooming in his stomach. "Aurora…"

"Philip?" Her hand reached up to caress his cheek. Killian swallowed hard. "You came back…"

"No, love, it's not Philip."

"But…" she let out a small sob.

"We've got to get you out of here," he mumbled. Looking up, a ray of light broke through the mist, illuminating a small cottage covered in ivy and overgrown hedges, the thatched roof looking quite in disrepair. A low wooden fence ran along the border of the overgrown yard and peeking out between the slats was the pop of red he'd come to collect.

He glanced back down at the form below him, the sunlight proffering enough of a view to see inky redness spreading across lilac silk. It wouldn't take him long to run for the clearing, snip off a few buds and return to her, but as she writhed and moaned beneath him and his head beginning to swim with the stirrings of disorientation, he wasn't entirely sure they would make it back to the ship in time.

_No mind_, he thought, _just try again tomorrow_. Sliding his arms beneath her limp body, careful not to scrape or tear her clothing with his hook, he lifted her, shifting her weight against his chest. He moved steadily back up the hill, his ears burning as they strained for the sound of her breathing. The forest seemed to stretch on forever, and without the use of his hand and hook to guide him, he feared the path would be lost.

He shifted her again, this time cradling her head against his shoulder in the hopes it wouldn't collide with one of the trees as he trudged back toward the beach. A sender arm circled his neck and she nuzzled against his exposed skin, murmuring incoherently. He gripped her tighter and his legs picked up speed, ducking instinctively between each massive trunk.

The full force of the magical mist was threatening to overtake his mind as he staggered onward, breathing heavily and struggling to keep the unconscious Aurora in his arms. A darkened figured appeared in his field of vision, distinctive in that it was clearly a woman, the jewels around her neck and fingers the only thing holding his focus long enough to make out the familiar curve of her body.

"Milah…"

"Follow me, Killian. Stay close."

"Milah, wait!" He huffed as chased desperately after her, jostling the sleeping woman in his arms enough to rouse her. She moaned lightly and clutched at his lapel. "Milah, where are you going?"

"Who's Milah?" Aurora murmured before her eyes rolled back into her head.

"I'm taking you back to your ship, Killian." She glanced over her shoulder at him though her face remained obscured. "I'm here to help."

"But Milah, what about you?" He halted suddenly, unable to go on. "Who will help you?"

Stopping, she lifted her skirts to step towards him through the thick brush, though her movement made no sound. He tried to make out the sharp line of her jaw, her lips, the piercing blue of her eyes, but they weren't meant to be seen. Not anymore. "I'm gone, Killian. There's no helping me. And besides, I'm not the one you should be worried about anymore." She motioned to Aurora, gaunt and lifeless in his arms. "This girl needs your help."

Before he could utter another word, she was off, ambling swiftly along. He followed, stumbling blindly as if he'd just taken his first steps. The mist slowly receded and Milah's dark figure dissolved along with it. "Milah! Milah, wait!" He cried as he tumbled into the sunlight on the beach. A sharp inhale of sea air cleared his mind almost immediately and after a moment of reorientation, he located the small rowboat lashed to a rock with Smee standing idly by.

"I tried to stop her!" He called out as Killian approached, "I told her not to go, but she refused! She threatened to castrate me with that little knife of hers and ran off." Killian might have smiled if he wasn't so desperate to get her back to the ship's doctor. He'd certainly underestimated his plucky little companion. "Wait, what happened?"

"Later," he ordered curtly as he gently laid her in the vessel and moved to push off into the sea.

* * *

With a violent jerk, Aurora woke abruptly, acutely aware of the throbbing pain in her side. She groaned and shifted on the bed, one much less comfortable than she'd grown accustomed to in the past week aboard the ship. Her eyes began to focus enough for her to take in her surroundings. She'd never been in this part of the hull… at least she could only assume it was the hull for the lack of windows. Or was this the keel? No, the keel was the thing on the bottom of the ship that helped keep it upright, at least that was how Hook had explained it begrudgingly as she shoveled spoon after spoon of hot stew into her mouth the first night they took to sea.

He'd opted to take his meals in his private quarters after that. She found it was especially rude considering his penance for taking her heart and her agency was to tote her around in search of an enchanted rose said, when prepared correctly, to bring back the souls of the damned.

Mulan had been less than pleased to allow Aurora to travel alone with him, but the pirate insisted his promise to return Aurora safely was true. With Cora out of the picture and no way to exact whatever revenge he'd teamed up with her for in the first place, there was no conceivable reason to betray her again. That, along with the return of the ogres, would make it too risky to leave Philip's body unprotected in the Sands.

It was coming back to her now. She'd seen him after… well whatever had just happened. She wasn't entirely sure what it even was. One moment she was trudging close behind Hook, her fingers closing around the leather of his overcoat, and the next thing she knew, the ground was coming at her with a terrible force. Then pain. Then she saw him—

"Awake, are we?" An elderly man with tufts of white hair framing his face rounded the doorway with a tray in-hand. "You certainly gave us quite a fright, miss. If it weren't for the Cap'n acting so fast-like, I'd say you'd been gone by the time we pulled you from that rowboat, I do."

"The Captain?" She uttered almost inaudibly with the slight tilt of her head.

The man set the tray on the side table and nodded toward a figure slumped low on a chair in the corner, his boots propped up on a trunk and chin tucked against the rise and fall of his chest. It was dark, and though she could scarcely make out his features, she knew who it was.

"Hasn't left this room since we brought you down here, he hasn't." He pushed the glasses that had slid down his greasy nose back up and hurried across the room to begin shuffling through a drawer. "Even takes his meals here."

Her attention focused back on Hook; his mouth slightly ajar, the grizzled look of too many days between trimming his scruff… just how long had she been out for?

The scent of seasoned meat and vegetables wafted into her nostrils, setting her stomach rumbling instantly. She looked back to the tray the old man had set down to find a plate of steaming food staring up at her. He returned a moment later with a spoon. "I brought if for the Cap'n, but seeing as he's asleep and you haven't kept a proper meal down in days, well I'd just assume he'd give it to you anyway."

She sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed gingerly, gripping her side as another wave of pain overtook her. The grey sack of a hospital gown she had on hung clung loosely to the light sheen of sweat covering her skin. Her dress, she noticed, hung neatly over the back of a chair next to where Hook reclined, his arms folded over his middle. She took the spoon from the man, and swallowed large mouthfuls of stew and bread eagerly, each bite only making her hungrier still.

Aurora's eyes flickered toward Hook as she ate. It was a peaceful sort of thing, to watch a man sleep, something she'd never had the pleasure of experiencing. All of the harsh lines of his face were relaxed, eliciting an unexpected response in her gut as her eyes roamed along the length of his body.

He began to stir, startling Aurora so suddenly she dropped the spoon. The hollow clang of metal against the wooden floorboards sent Hook thrashing awake and nearly crashing to the floor in a fit of confusion. Aurora bit back a laugh at the sight.

"Aurora?" It was the way he spoke her name, half asleep and half surprised, that caused her muscles to slacken and a wave of heat to crash over her body.

"Yes," she squeaked, finding her voice more hoarse than she'd have liked it to sound, "I've just woken up."

"And had something to eat, I see." His eyes darted to the now-empty tray; a few crumbs of bread the only evidence something had once occupied it to begin with. "Good to see you doing well." He stood tensely for a moment, his jaw set hard.

Aurora opened her mouth slightly, then closed it again, inexplicably flustered by the intensity of his gaze. A matter of days ago, his presence had barely given her the slightest bit of pause, in fact, she'd often recoiled from him whenever he drew near, reaching over her to fetch some trinket or a map from behind her head. And now it was though the gap between them was a canyon that she desperately needed to cross. She pushed aside the thought and wished the old man would come back to break whatever this was. Where had he disappeared to to begin with?

Resigning at last, she tried to speak again. "Thank you."

"It was nothing."

"No. You could have left me there, could have let me die… it would have been easy."

"Wouldn't have been so easy when that uppity little warrior friend of yours found out."

Aurora laughed. "You know there would be no reason for you to see her ever again. You could just sail off into the sunset and never think of me."

Something Aurora was still too woozy to identify flashed across Hook's face as he approached the bed, stooping to snatch up the spoon. "I may be a pirate, love," he spat and dropped the utensil onto the tray, "but I always keep my word. I'll fetch your rose tomorrow, _alone_, and then I will take you back to the Sands."

Aurora jumped up to catch him by the arm as he turned to storm out, the pain in her side going unnoticed until he'd turned to glare sharply at her. She gasped and clutched at the wound, stumbling backwards against the bed.

"Aurora?" He caught her by the shoulder and helped swing her legs back onto the deflated mattress. "Let me see."

"No, where's the doctor?" She looked around frantically and swatted at his hands as he attempted to pull up the threadbare fabric. It was too much being this close to him now, being in pain, needing him to make her feel better. But eventually, reluctantly, she let him win, looking nervously in every direction but the one she wanted to, flinching as his calloused hands grazed over her exposed skin.

"Well it hasn't bled through the dressing, 's a good sign. Just… be a bit more careful."

Deafening silence followed as he righted her clothing and crossed his arms at the foot of the bed. The pulse pounding in her brain had woken her up fully, all the fog in her mind erased. It was then that she remembered the moments before she'd completely lost consciousness. "Who's Milah?" The words came tumbling out of her mouth before she'd fully processed them. "Was she your…"

Hook stared at her, bewildered, then looked away, his eyes cast downward. "Yes. She was."

"Did you see her?" It took all of Aurora's energy but she managed to sit up again, sliding each leg carefully over the side of the bed.

"Enough. Now you'd be wise to lay back down and get some rest."

"I only ask because…" her voice was weak as she tried to stand, "I saw Philip. He told me not to save him. That he's on the other side now and that it would be unnatural to bring him back."

"It was just a hallucination. Now get back into bed before I make you."

"It wasn't a hallucination! I _saw_ him!" She clutched at his coat as he attempted to move her into a reclining position. "There's no guarantee the roses would even work! Don't go back, there, Killian, don't…" It was the first time she'd dared to use his real name, the first time she regarded him with more than an impersonal moniker.

Ignoring her, he continued fighting with her limbs, careful not to knick her with his hook. "Dammit, Aurora, _get in the bed_."

"Just _listen_ to me!" When it seemed no amount of thrashing or arguing would stop him, she did the only thing that came to mind. Her fingers threaded through his hair and she pulled him toward her hard, meeting his lips harshly. He stopped fighting, his body relaxing and tensing all at once. She managed to get a leg around his waist to pull him in closer, the fabric of the gown inching up her thighs.

"Aurora," he breathed as she allowed him to pull away. "Are you absolutely certain?"

She stared up at him for a moment before tugging him back, his lips now moving desperately against hers. Soon his tongue slipped past her teeth and he was fighting her again, only this time she was more than willing to comply. He paused, shucking his cumbersome leather coat to the ground before settling on top of her, one knee pressed between her thighs.

The cool metal of his hook pressed against her side, sliding bluntly over her body and sending a chill up her spine. He trailed the sharp point along her arm, her collarbone, and finally between her breasts, where the flimsy fabric gave way with a gentle pull. Under different circumstances, Aurora would have blushed at her sudden nakedness, but the satisfied grin on Hook's face only sent a rush of heat straight to her core.

Fingers fluttered and the remains of what fabric lay between them fell unceremoniously to the ground. The first fluid motions of his hips caused Aurora to cry out, and Hook paused abruptly.

"It's not your wound, is it?"

"No…" Aurora whimpered. Her grip on his neck tightened as he thrust again and again, the ache between her legs slowly giving way to strange ripples of pleasure.

She felt herself lifted higher and higher, like she was chasing something she couldn't quite reach. As she whimpered against Hook's throat, it was though he could sense her need and his hand slipping between them, applying pressure where she needed it most. She gasped and stiffened beneath him as a bolt of electricity passed through her body, something unlike she'd ever felt before. His breath was ragged and broken as he drove relentlessly into her, chasing that same peak he'd just taken her to.

Eventually he slowed, going completely slack and draping himself over her body. She enjoyed the stillness of the moment, reveling in the weight of his body atop hers. She toyed aimlessly with the hair on his chest and sighed.

"How's the wound, love?" He shifted to the side, allowing her to catch her breath.

"Just fine." She could feel him grin against her hair, the soft amber ringlets threaded lazily through his fingers. "So where to next?"

"What about your little friend back in the Sands?" His voice held a mild harshness, but his eyes were soft as he stared down at her. Though he tried, in this moment, he wasn't the fierce pirate of repute.

"She's with Philip. It's what she always wanted." Aurora had known it for a long time. Philip loved her, certainly, but his relationship with Mulan was undoubtedly more complex than she could ever understand. Perhaps it would be better not to know, though the thought of leaving her friend without so much as a word caused her some discomfort.

"I'll tell you what." A smile cracked over Killian's face, and at once all doubt about her decision fled. "I shall allow you to plot our course."

"Hook, that sounded almost gentlemanly," she teased in mock alarm and leaned up to capture his lips against hers.

"Well, don't get used to it, love. It's only because you looked so pitiful lying here in the infirmary."

Aurora knitted her eyebrows together. "Now, _that_ I don't believe for a minute."

"And you shouldn't. I am a pirate after all." The jest in his tone told her all she needed to know about how this adventure would turn out. "So then, where to?"

She pressed a finger to her lips thoughtfully for a moment. "Somewhere we can be like this forever."

With the raise of his eyebrow, Hook consented. "Well, now, I believe I know _just_ the place."


End file.
